Oracle Customer Success — Standard Forwarding

The combination of Oracle Application Development Framework, Oracle WebCenter content management solutions, and Redstone Content Solutions’ expertise has enabled us to elevate customer service to new levels while improving operational efficiency. We’ve cut invoicing costs by more than $350,000 annually and can provide better service to more customers with the same resources.

— Kevin Mishler, IT Director, Standard Forwarding LLC

Standard Forwarding LLC is a less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier with 17 terminals throughout the Midwest. A wholly owned entity of DHL Freight, the road freight arm of Deutsche Post DHL, Standard Forwarding provides overnight service within and between Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana, Minnesota, southern Michigan, and cities in Missouri and Nebraska. It operates a modern fleet with 325 tractors and 790 trailers. In 2012, it was named Great Lakes/Midwest LTL Carrier of the Year for the fifth consecutive year in Mastio & Company’s annual Value and Loyalty Benchmarking Study.

Over the years, technology―including onboard systems and track-and-trace capabilities―has been fundamental to the company’s continued success. Standard Forwarding, seeking to improve the efficiency of its document-intensive invoicing process and expand self-service functionality for customers, worked with Oracle Partner Redstone Content Solutions to transform its invoicing process and customer service capabilities. Standard Forwarding deployed Oracle WebCenter Content to automate its paper-based invoice creation process, saving approximately $350,000 annually in processing, paper, and personnel savings. Redstone Content Solutions also created and helped Standard Forwarding launch a new, easy-to-navigate Web site with expanded capabilities that enable customers to conveniently manage every phase of the shipment lifecycle from a single location. Redstone Content Solutions used Oracle Application Development Framework (Oracle ADF), Oracle WebCenter Capture, Oracle WebLogic Server, and Oracle WebCenter Content to build the powerful new solution.

Oracle WebCenter Improves Invoice-to-Cash Process

Challenges

Extend the company’s leadership role in the transportation industry by continually improving operational efficiency and customer service and support capabilities

Reduce the cost of compiling and posting invoices for the company’s LTL transport services by eliminating a paper-based process that required terminals to ship documentation to headquarters for scanning and processing

Results

Saved the company more than $350,000 annually in invoice processing and personnel costs

Created a consolidated image repository for bills of lading, shipment delivery receipts, and other company records, reducing physical storage costs and accelerating access to documentation

Used Oracle ADF, Oracle WebCenter Content, and Oracle WebLogic Server to create a new Web site with expanded self-service capabilities that let customers manage the entire shipment lifecycle from quoting through delivery confirmation via a single location

Gave customers the power to track their shipments online, reducing calls to the customer service department and enabling them to focus on more complex inquiries

Enabled the company to continue to provide high-quality customer service with the same number of personnel, even as volume has increased significantly

Developed the Web site using Oracle’s standards-based integration framework, making it easy to integrate with other systems, including the company’s proprietary enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications, and ensuring the ability to seamlessly add new functionality moving forward

Created a modular architecture that enables the company to deploy, update, and conduct maintenance on a single module without impacting other parts of the Web-based solution

Why Oracle

Redstone Content Solutions relied on Oracle ADF, which is built on top of Java Platform Enterprise Edition, to create the company’s new content environment Oracle ADF significantly improves developer productivity with integrated infrastructure solutions for various layers of the application environment. Standard Forwarding selected Oracle’s WebCenter solutions because they offer a complete, open, and integrated portfolio of content, portal, and Web experience management technology in a single suite―enabling scalability and streamlined deployment of new capabilities in the future.

About Standard Forwarding

Headquarters

East Moline, Illinois

Employees

680

Partners

Oracle specialized Platinum partner Redstone Content Solutions has been Standard Forwarding’s strategic consulting partner for nearly seven years. Redstone helped Standard Forwarding to scope and build the company’s new Web site, including the many applications that pull information from Standard Forwarding’s ERP environment. “As an integral part of our team, Redstone Content Solutions has been instrumental in helping us get to where we are today―using Oracle technology and tools to build a world-class Web site packed with self-service functionality that puts all of the services our customers need at their fingertips. We consider Redstone to be an extension of our marketing, customer service, and IT teams,” said Kevin Mishler, IT director, Standard Forwarding.